FRANKLIN,
Ind. (AP) -- A Civil War cannon displayed in Greenlawn Cemetery
for decades is headed for the new Indiana State Museum in
Indianapolis.
The cannon, which recently underwent restoration, will be sent Tuesday to
South Bend and later to Indianapolis, where the museum under
construction in White River State Park is scheduled to open in
May.
The Franklin Board of Works and Safety agreed to loan the authentic
cannon to the museum for 10 years, with an option to renew the
loan.
The cannon will be the centerpiece for the new museum's Hoosier Way
gallery.
"That gallery will cover Indiana history from statehood in 1816 to the
end of the Civil War." said R. Dale Ogden, senior curator for
Americana at the museum. "This gun has lots of Indiana
connections, being built in Aurora, used along the Ohio and
displayed in Franklin."
As part of the loan, the museum will provide a replica gun to Franklin in
return.

South Bend Replicas will build the replica, while a
carriage for hte replica will be built in Wisconsin.
Construction is expected to take at least six months.
The replica cannon will then be put on display in
Franklin, but probalby not in the cemetery.
The cannon was built in 1861 by Stedman Co. of Aurora in southern
Indiana. It was part of a gun battery along the
Ohio River near the end of the war and was brought to
Franklin by the Grand Army of the Republic after the
War.

Friday,
June 29, 2001

ABOVE:
Original M. 1861 Stedman iron 6-pounder and SBR
reproduction. Original goes to new Indiana State
Museum, while reproduction remains in City of
Franklin, where original had been for generations.
Reportedly about a half dozen were made by the Stedman
Machine Company at Aurora, Indiana for use in Civil
Ware but without having ever achieved U.S. Government
acceptance as regular ordnance.

ON-GOING SPECIAL
PROJECTS: Original gunbarrels presented for examination, or
for various restorative work, often provide opportunity to add
cast chamber impressions to shop collection for historical record
not available anyplace else. Re-boring where justified,
gives similar record of metal samples for historical study.
Occasional dissection of trade-in replicas casts light on various
means and standards of modern replication.

LEFT: Chuck Wiard, descendant of family that includes
gunmakers Tohomas Wiard and Norman Wiard, and Wiard foundry
and plow industries, examines 2.6" Wiard in SBR shop for
bore restoration with Paulson sleeve.